DeAndre Hopkins Enjoys Titans Visit; Bill Belichick Announces He's Not Patriots Travel Agent
Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has apparently been having a good time at the start of his free-agent visit with the Tennessee Titans and the next stop is supposed to be with the New England Patriots.
So on Monday when reporters asked Patriots coach Bill Belichick about the visit, which reportedly begins Tuesday, the coach put some brakes on the whole narrative.
"I don't know about that," Belichick said. "Talking to him, working through it. Not sure."
And that immediately raises questions.
Is Hopkins having second thoughts about the visit to Foxborough?
Are the Patriots having second thoughts?
Patriots coach Bill Belichick. (Getty Images)
Bill Belichick Addresses DeAndre Hopkins
A couple of minutes later a reporter waded into the uncertainty to try to find a semblance of clarity. And Belichick sort of provided it in his own caustic way.
"You asked about the date, I'm not sure," Belichick said. "We're working through it so I don't have anything to add to that. I think it relates to more of the logistics and things like that. I'm not really a travel agent here so I'm not going to say it's going to happen here or not going to happen when there's a lot of of stuff going on that I'm not directly involved in.
"So I'm not going to say anything and then you turn around and say I misled you in some way because that's not what I'm going to do."
It's the second week of June. And Bill Belichick, God bless him, is in midseason form.
So what would Hopkins bring to the table in New England?
"Yeah, I'm not going to talk about players who aren't on the team," Belichick said.
Alrighty, then.
DeAndre Hopkins Visit In Nashville
Hopkins is visiting on Monday with the Tennessee Titans. One presumes that includes meeting with coaches, seeing the club's facility, maybe glad-handing some potential teammates. Some food. Some discussion about his vision and the team's vision for him.
When he arrived Sunday, he got a chance to attend the Country Music Association festival at Nashville's Nissan Stadium.
The Titans play their home games at Nissan Stadium and made sure the crowd knew Hopkins was in the house by putting him on the scoreboard screens.
The screen photoshopped an image of Hopkins in a Titans uniform.
Yeah, nice touch.
Titans Making Hopkins Feel Welcome
The full-on recruitment of Hopkins is underway with the Titans.
It will be interesting to see how far the team is willing to take that when it comes to contract discussions. Hopkins is said to be open to a contract similar to the one signed by Odell Beckham Jr.
Beckham signed a one-year deal worth $15 million with the Ravens. The deal includes four void years so as to make it workable withing the team's salary cap structure. The void years allow a team to prorate a signing bonus over the number of years, including the void years, thus lowering the cap hit the year the player is on the team.